A Pack, Not a Herd

Over the years, Glenn Reynolds has come up with many themes and catch phrases that have helped to define the contemporary conservative/libertarian movement. Tonight he hails armed citizens who have turned out to defend disarmed (by law) military recruiting centers, as reported by MyFoxDC:

The morning after a deadly attack on two military centers in Chattanooga, residents in Hiram are standing watch outside the local recruiting office with their personal firearms. It is their unique way of honoring the fallen Marines and they said to protect the lives of those who serve in the military.

“I teared up. I think any human being would be touched by what happened yesterday. Any U.S. citizen that has a heart and a soul to hear what had happened,” said Crystal Tewellow, who organized the watch.

Recruiting offices are designated as being “gun-free zones” which means officers working there cannot carry their sidearm into the building. Tewellow, whose son just enlisted and the army and has a brother who is a recruiter, felt compelled to organize the watch.

“To think the people who are supposed to protect and serve us are unable to protect and serve… protect themselves,” said Tewellow. “So if us, the citizens, who carry permits, are able to help protect them that’s, that’s what we’re gonna be able to do.”

Gun-carrying citizens have similarly turned out at various locations around the country. The real point here is Glenn’s comment:

Good. And the idea of having lots of armed citizens everywhere makes sense. When you face a diffuse, widely-distributed threat, you need a diffuse, widely-distributed defense. You can’t do that with police and military because there aren’t enough of them. But you can do it with ordinary citizens. And there’s one group of responders that will always be on the scene of any attack — the citizens who are already there.

As Glenn wrote long ago, in any mass shooting event, there is one group of people who, by definition, are already there–the “victims.” Only, if they are armed and dangerous, they don’t have to be victims. They can be first responders.

My weekends have been so busy lately that I haven’t been shooting much. But tomorrow, I’m going to the range.